Bill to amend RTI Act deferred to Winter Session

The Bill to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, to keep political parties out of its ambit, was on Thursday deferred to the Winter Session of Parliament.

The Bill may now be sent to the Standing Committee of Parliament for larger consensus.

The RTI (Amendment) Bill, 2013 was listed for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

However, with just a day left for the Monsoon session to end, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V. Narayanasamy said “The Government has decided that there should be more discussion on this Bill. We will bring this Bill in the Winter Session.”

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2013 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Narayanasamy on August 12, but could not be taken for discussion due to the frequent adjournments.

Last month, the Union Cabinet had given its nod to amend the Act to keep political parties out of the Act’s ambit.

The Bill was being brought in by the Government after key political parties, including the Congress and BJP, opposed an order by the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) in June, declaring that political parties were ‘public authorities’ and should be covered under the Act.

The Government, too, was of the view that political parties were not Constitutional bodies, do not take Government funds and should be kept out of RTI.

However, the Biju Janata Dal, Communist Party of India, Trinamool Congress ands Shiv Sena were not opposed to the CIC order.

Meanwhile, RTI activists, led by Aruna Roy, had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, urging the Government not to pass the amendments without wider public consultation. They also submitted a petition signed by one lakh people.

aditi.n@thehindu.co.in

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